Mandsaur Remains Peaceful, Section 144 Still In Force

Bhopal: With curfew lifted in all the three police station areas of Mandsaur, the city remained peaceful on Sunday. However, section 144 of the CrPC, which prohibits more than four people from gathering, will remain in force.

“The situation is peaceful and there are no reports of violence so far,” Collector OP Srivastava and SP Manoj Singh said. The two were appointed as replacements after a farmers’ protest turned violent and five farmers were killed in the subsequent police firing.

Curfew will, however, remain in Piplia Mandi police station area, 15 kms from Mandsaur.
Madhya Pradesh farmers began their protest on June 1, demanding loan waiver and higher remunerative prices for their crops. Following the police firing in Mandsaur, the situation spiraled out of control as protesters resorted to loot and arson in several districts.

On Saturday, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan sat on an indefinite fast in an attempt to calm down the rising tempers. “I slept intermittently and all that while I kept thinking about what all topics – out of the ones we discussed with the farmers – can be worked upon as soon as possible,” Chouhan told news agency ANI on Sunday.